Letter: Where will all the trash go?

In a 2009 report, the Mass. DEP estimated a potential savings of $4 million to $7 million annually to state municipalities by expanding the bottle bill. New York, Connecticut and Maine already have expanded bottle laws.

In a 2009 report, the Mass. DEP estimated a potential savings of $4 million to $7 million annually to state municipalities by expanding the bottle bill. New York, Connecticut and Maine already have expanded bottle laws.

But in Massachusetts, we still send 30,000 tons, some one billion containers, of bottles to landfills and incinerators each year.

The potential savings is real. The containers which would be affected make up 5.4 percent of the waste stream by weight, and 15.2 percent by volume, according to recent estimates.

Aside from finance, there is another concern of much greater importance: Where will the trash go?

Landfills in the state are filling up, and there is a moratorium on new incinerators. Both are undesirables.